TL;DR: There is no CHED degree called BS Animation. Animation is studied through three routes: BS Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (BSEMC) major in Digital Animation-Technology under CMO No. 02, s. 2014 (167-unit minimum, 460 internship hours, capstone worth roughly 500 development hours per member); an Animation specialisation inside the Fine Arts and Design cluster under CMO No. 43, s. 2017; or an animation elective track in the Bachelor of Multimedia Arts under CMO No. 20, s. 2017. TESDA offers a shorter non-degree path — 2D Animation NC III (968 hours) and 3D Animation NC III (1,100 hours). No PRC board exam exists for animators.
Search for "BS Animation Philippines" and you will find school pages using half a dozen different degree names. That is not marketing sloppiness. It reflects a real fact about how CHED regulates the field: animation has never been given its own Policies, Standards and Guidelines memorandum. It lives as a specialisation inside three other programmes, each with a different parent policy and a very different centre of gravity.
Picking the right one matters more than picking the right school. Here is what each actually contains.
Route 1: BSEMC Major in Digital Animation-Technology
This is the computing route, and it is the most tightly specified of the three.
CHED Memorandum Order No. 02, series of 2014 promulgates the Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (BSEMC). CHED describes the field as "the study and use of concepts, principles, and techniques of computing in the design and development of multimedia products and solutions," and states that the programme covers "the whole pipeline of Game Development and Digital Animation projects."
The memorandum defines the Digital Animation-Technology specialisation as the study and application of theories and advanced techniques in 2D and 3D animation, and of animation technologies, "and production of commercially acceptable content and viable solutions for different platforms such as broadcast, web and mobile cast."
The 167-Unit Curriculum
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| General Education | 57 |
| Core Computing Courses | 18 |
| EMC Core Courses | 27 |
| EMC Professional Courses (specialisation) | 27 |
| EMC Professional Electives | 9 |
| Capstone Project | 6 |
| Internship | 9 |
| Physical Education | 8 |
| NSTP | 6 |
| Total | 167 |
An important caveat. CMO No. 02, s. 2014 states in its own general provisions that the PSG is "based on the existing 10-year basic education system and on the existing GE program" and reflects outcomes-based education "but not the K12 Reform," which "shall be addressed subsequently." The 57-unit General Education block belongs to the old GE programme. Under the current General Education Curriculum the GE block is much smaller, so real BSEMC curricula today total well below 167 units. Ask the school for its current unit count rather than assuming the 2014 figure.
What You Actually Study
The nine EMC core courses are common to both specialisations: Freehand and Digital Drawing, Introduction to Game Design and Development, Computer Graphics Programming, Usability/HCI and User Interaction Design, Principles of 2D Animation, Audio Design and Sound Engineering, Script Writing and Storyboard Design, Principles of 3D Animation, and Design and Production Process.
The 27 professional units for the animation specialisation are: Image and Video Processing, Modelling and Rigging, Lighting and Effects, Advanced Sound Production, Advanced 2D Animation, Advanced 3D Animation and Scripting, Texture and Mapping, Compositing and Rendering, and Animation Design and Production.
A school may offer only one of the two specialisations. Where both are offered, CHED expects students to elect a specialisation preferably before the start of sophomore year, then complete all 27 units of that track.
Capstone and Internship
For animation majors, the capstone must be animation content or an interactive project, done independently by the student, involving full production of original content. CHED sets the project effort at "at least 500 development hours of work for each member of the team," requires complete documentation and a public presentation, and requires that media assets be original as far as possible with permissions in order for anything reused.
The internship minimum is 460 hours, worth 9 units, in a registered enterprise on a commercial animation or game development project, with both a faculty supervisor and an industry supervisor. Students become eligible only after completing 80 per cent of total curriculum units. CHED also requires the school itself to hold industry partnerships evidenced by a memorandum of agreement — that requirement is tied to programme recognition, so it is a fair question to ask an admissions officer.
Verified examples of schools publishing this programme on their own sites include Our Lady of Fatima University, which lists a "Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing Major in Digital Animation Technology."
Route 2: Animation Inside Fine Arts and Design
CMO No. 43, series of 2017 covers the Bachelor of Fine Arts and related arts and design degrees. It clusters specialisations into Studio Arts, Visual Communication, Industrial Design, Moving Images — which comprises Film/Cinema, Animation and Multimedia — Art Theory with a production component, and any further programme meeting the same criteria.
This route is art-led rather than code-led. CHED sets a minimum of 158 units: 36 GE, 108 for the programme major (24 core, 72 specialisation, 12 electives), and 14 required units of PE and NSTP. The specialisation block includes Creative Research, Directed Research, a 6-unit Thesis and a Practicum or Immersion.
Two requirements are worth noting. Every Fine Arts and Design undergraduate must complete a thesis, defended before a panel and consisting of "a body of visual works grounded on a theoretical basis." And every student must complete a professional seminar, practicum or workshop of not less than 200 hours before admission to senior-level courses, with a community immersion programme available as an alternative where industry partners are out of reach.
Route 3: Animation Electives in Multimedia Arts
CMO No. 20, series of 2017 governs the Bachelor of Multimedia Arts. Animation is not a formal major here, but the memorandum publishes a sample elective set "for a Program Focus on Animation" — Advanced 3D Animation, Digital Storyboarding and Acting for Animation — on top of the compulsory 2D Animation, 3D Modeling and 3D Animation major courses in the standard 135-unit curriculum.
This is the broadest of the three routes. You leave with animation among several production skills rather than as the whole degree. Our multimedia arts course guide sets out that curriculum in full.
Comparing the Three Degree Routes
| BSEMC (Digital Animation-Technology) | Fine Arts (Animation) | Multimedia Arts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHED policy | CMO No. 02, s. 2014 | CMO No. 43, s. 2017 | CMO No. 20, s. 2017 |
| Framing | Computing | Fine arts and design | Design, technology and visual arts |
| Programming | Core and substantial | Not required | Optional elective |
| Terminal requirement | Capstone project | Thesis with panel defence | Thesis or capstone plus portfolio exhibit |
| Practicum floor set by CHED | 460 internship hours | Not less than 200 hours | 3 units of OJT |
| Sample or minimum total | 167 units | 158 units minimum | 135 units |
| Board exam | None | None | None |
The TESDA Route: Shorter, Competency-Based
If a four-year degree is not the plan, TESDA registers animation qualifications with published Training Regulations, which are the basis for assessment, certification and programme registration.
| TESDA qualification | Nominal duration | Core competencies |
|---|---|---|
| 2D Animation NC III | 968 hours | Produce traditional key poses/drawings, create tradigital animation, create 2D digital cut-out animation, export animation to video file format |
| 3D Animation NC III | 1,100 hours | Create 3D models, apply shader and texture, set character rigging, animate character, light and render animation scene |
| Visual Graphic Design NC III | 501 hours | Design and develop visual graphic designs for logos, print media, user experience, user interface, packaging and display |
Entry is not open. The 2D Animation NC III Training Regulations require an Animation NC II certificate or industry-based assistant animator, clean-up or in-between experience, plus passing a creative or drawing test given by the institution. 3D Animation NC III requires a certificate of employment or studio endorsement for industry practitioners, or an Animation NC II qualification (or its COC 1 or 2) for non-practitioners, plus a creative skills qualifying test and knowledge of at least one graphics package.
TESDA's own Training Regulations list the job roles a 2D Animation NC III holder is competent to take, including traditional animator, clean-up checker, in-between checker, animation checker, motion graphics animator, web animator, commercial animator and AVP animator.
For how the certificate levels stack and what they signal to employers, see our guide to TESDA NC levels explained.
Does Animation Have a Board Exam?
No. The Professional Regulation Commission administers 46 Professional Regulatory Boards. Animation, multimedia arts and graphic design are not among them. No licensure examination exists for animators, and no licence is required to be hired or to freelance.
What replaces it is the reel. Studios recruit on demonstrated shots and sequences, which is why every one of the three degree routes ends in a substantial produced work — a capstone, a defended thesis, or a portfolio exhibit — and why the TESDA route front-loads a drawing test rather than a written entrance exam.
If you want a course that does end in a licensure exam, our list of courses with board exams sets out the licensed fields.
Where the Work Is
Animation sits inside a sector that now has its own governing statute. Republic Act No. 11904, the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, defines the Audiovisual Media Domain to include "animated film productions" and content that uses "motion graphics, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional design technology and animatronics." The Act establishes a creative industries development council mandated to implement a long-term plan for the sector, with programmes aimed at employment, human resources, financing and incentives.
Industry-side, the Animation Council of the Philippines runs Animahenasyon, the sector's annual festival, and organises studios, schools and vendors under one body.
Two practical points follow. First, a large share of Philippine animation work is service work for foreign studios, so pipeline discipline — clean-up, in-between, rigging, compositing — is genuinely employable, not a consolation prize. Second, the roles TESDA names as competencies map closely onto how studios actually staff a production, which is a useful cross-check when you read a school's list of promised job titles.
Choosing Between the Routes
- Do you want to build the tools or make the shots? BSEMC teaches graphics programming and scripting. Fine Arts does not. That single question separates the two routes more cleanly than any other.
- How much general education can you absorb? BSEMC is the longest of the three on paper. Fine Arts and Multimedia Arts are lighter.
- Do you already draw well? Then the TESDA route can get you into a studio faster, and 2D Animation NC III explicitly recognises prior studio experience as an entry path.
- Is a degree required for your goal? For teaching, supervision or work abroad it usually is. For a junior studio role, a reel and a TESDA certificate can be enough. Our guide to TESDA courses in the Philippines covers that path in full.
- Which strand did you take? Arts and Design and ICT are the natural feeders; see our Arts and Design strand guide.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools and compare programmes across the Philippines on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- Commission on Higher Education — CMO No. 02, series of 2014, PSG for the Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (BS EMC) Program
- Commission on Higher Education — CMO No. 43, series of 2017, PSG for the Undergraduate Programs in Fine Arts and Design
- Commission on Higher Education — CMO No. 20, series of 2017, PSG for the Bachelor of Multimedia Arts (BMMA) Program
- TESDA — Training Regulations, 2D Animation NC III
- TESDA — Training Regulations, 3D Animation NC III
- TESDA — Training Regulations, Visual Graphic Design NC III
- Professional Regulation Commission — Professional Regulatory Boards
- Republic Act No. 11904 — Philippine Creative Industries Development Act
- Our Lady of Fatima University — BS Entertainment and Multimedia Computing Major in Digital Animation Technology
- Animation Council of the Philippines
